Furnace-door opener



Dec; 11,1928. 1,694,686

A. W. HUNT FURNACE DOOR OPENER Filed Jan. l3, 1925 j EIEJH awuemtozi Patented Dec. 11, i928 FURNACE-DQOR OPENER.

Applicationfiled January 13, 1925.

My invention relates to furnace door openers and my object is to provide a simple, inexpensive and durable mechanism of this character which will enable a person to open the door by the simple operation of pressing upon a pedal, thereby leaving both hands free to use a shovel in feeding fuel into the furnace. By the use of my invention a saving in fuel may be effected, as the time required for leav- IO ing the furnace door open to feed fuel into the furnace is reduced to a minimum and consequently only a minimum volume of cold air is permitted to enter the furnace.

Other features will hereinafter appear, and in order that the invention may be fully understood reference will now be had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a broken front elevation of a furnace equipped with the door opening mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a broken side elevation of the furnace equipped with the door opening mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the door opening mechanism removed from the furnace.

1 is a fragmentary plan view of the furnace with the lower portion of the door opening mechanism removed.

Fig. 5 is a detail cross section on line VV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation of a lever and a number of associate parts.

Referring now in detail to the various parts, A designates a furnace of any suitable type, and among other features is equipped with the usual door B through which fuel is fed to the grate, not shown. The door'B is mounted at one end upon hinges C and provided at its opposite end with a catch D for engagement over a lug E fixed to the front of the furnace. The foregoing may be of any ordinary construction, the invention residing in the door opening mechanism which will now be described in detail. 2 designates a pedal mountedat its forward end upon a fulcrum 4 carried by a bracket 6 secured to the front of the furnace by suitable means, such, for instance, as a bolt 8.

1O designates a lever mounted intermediate its ends upon a fulcrum 12 secured to the front portion of the furnace A and bent an obtuse angle to bring the upper inclined edge of the end 14 into engagement with the underside of the door catch D.

serial No. 2,12

16 designates a connecting-bar which is secured at its lower and upper ends by pivots l8 and 20 to the pedal 2 and the lever 10, respectively. The pedal 2 is normally held in raised position by a retractile spring 22 connected at ends to said pedal 2 and the connectingbar 16, which latter is provided with a stop 2%, underlying the lever 10 at a point between the fulcrum 12 and the pivot 20, to limit the movement of the foregoing parts.

The operation briefly stated is as follows: As the operator approaches the door B with a shovel full of coal he depresses the pedal 2 with his foot against the action of the retractile spring 22. As the pedal 2 swings dow wardly on its fulcrum l, it, through the intermediacy of the pivot 18, carr es the con necting bar 16 downwardly, which in turn carries the pivot 20 downwardly and thereby rocks the lever 10 on its fulcrum 12, until checked by the lower rear corner contacting the stop 24;, as shown by Fig. 6. As the inclined edge of the end 14 of the lever 10, suddenly swings upwardly it raises the door B slightly and causes the catch D to clear the lug E. The sudden upward movement of the beveled. end 14. also throws the door B open, so that the operator can throw the shovel full of fuel into the furnace and close the door before a large volume of cold air can enter and cool the furnace. l fhen the foot is removed from the pedal 2 the parts are restored by the spring 22 to normal position, where further movement is checked by the stop 2% engaging the und erside of the lever 10.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that l provide a furnace ooor opener which is not only a convenience to the operator, but also, as hereinbefore stated, effects a saving in fuel, as the time required for leaving the door open while stolting the furnace is reduced to a minimum.

It is to be understood that the door opener may be applied to various types of furnaces and boilers, and that various modifications may be made in the construction, co1nbination and arrangement of parts of said door opener, as properly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed,

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

The combination with a furnace having a door mounted thereon to swing horizontally and provided at one end with a catch said furnace having a hook mounted on the front thereof arranged to engage said catch, of a door opening mechanism comprising a lever pivotally mounted between its ends and hav ing at one end an inclined portion arranged to release said catch from said hook and open the door, a pedal, a link operatively connecting said pedal with the other end of said lever, and a spring tending to hold the pedal 10 in inoperative position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ARTHUR N. HUNT. 

